Increased Mental Awareness

Aside from the ability to stay awake for long hours at your poker night, playing poker can also help increase your mental awareness. You become sensitive to the reactions of other people and intuitive to relate their gestures to how good or bad their cards are. In short, the things that you regularly dismiss in a normal day such as facial expressions are noticed in a simple poker game. You become more sensitive to your surroundings.

Improved Memory

Memory is often boosted in a poker game. You tend to remember the gestures, facial reactions, game outcomes, and the mistakes you made in previous games. Thus, you stand a higher chance of retaining a good memory even in old age. Playing card games in your golden years can surely pay off.

Understanding Risks

Playing a poker game can help a person understand risks. These ‘understood risks’, in turn, can also be applied in daily living. In short, playing poker can help people gain certain insights that are hard to be derived at regular activities. People can make informed decisions and look at things from different perspectives.

Intelligent Game Strategy

Losing at the early stages of a poker match can help you be acquainted with the tactics of the people you are playing with- who takes advantage of losing players, who doesn’t like taking risks, etc. If you always win at the first few games, the players usually closely guard their tactics, making it impossible for you to read their thoughts and actions. Never hesitate to make a few losses early on and don’t panic if you unintentionally lost in the first poker game.

Financially and Mentally Healthy

Losing in poker is financially and mentally healthy. Why? If you accept the fact that every card player is at risk of losing money, you will never dare to use all your possessions and bet them at a desperate poker game. It is also mentally healthy because you will less likely be addicted to playing it. People who always gain money because of numerous winnings become too bold and, later on, addicted. Losing helps you to not lose touch with reality; you will know your limits in any game and stop when you see that you lost too much already.

The first thing to remember is that having a poker face also relies on body language. If you face shows no emotion but your body does, there is no point trying to hide your hand. An expressionless look and body composure is essential when playing the game. If you find this difficult maybe invest in a pair of sunglasses.

Secondly, it is important to keep in mind that small actions such as playing with chips, biting nails and tapping your fingers are all signs of nervousness and will be picked up by the other players at the table. You should know when to use signals like these (as well as eye contact) to bluff the other players around you.

Lastly you should try to never, ever make your actions predictable. Once your fellow players can predict your actions it is a sure fire way to lose the game. If possible you should try and make your fellow players feel uneasy. Try and confuse them and make them start to wonder things about you. Whilst doing this keep an eye on how your fellow players react – you may learn more than you think.

Metal core poker chips are very durable, and most are manufactured in China and Taiwan. This type of chip is heavy and readily available although it is the least most popular of the three mass produced chips on the market today.

Casino poker chips are the most popular type of chip available, and when it comes to security they are well known as being the best. Each casino has their chips custom made in order to prevent counterfeit copies. The only place to buy this type of chip is from a casino at their face value or from a reseller who will often introduce a hefty mark-up tag. This type of chip generally weighs around 10g and is renowned as being the best type of chip available.

Plastic chips are the most popular home game option and they can be purchased almost anywhere. This type of chip usually weighs around 7g and due to their material they are not as durable as they above types and can be easily damaged. For a home game poker kit though they are more than effective and are the cheapest option available on the market today.

1. Read Books and Watch Videos

The greatest teacher in life is surely experience, but that doesn’t mean we turn away from other resources to learn a few things about poker. While being introduced to that wonderful card game, read online and familiarise yourself with a few poker terms you might hear at the table. For instance, ‘backdoor’ may sound like an ordinary term but it has a technical definition when somebody uses it at a poker game. Watching videos and shows such as Texas Hold ‘em will also give you an idea of how players manage their game.

2. Practice

This is a no-brainer as nobody can learn poker without actually playing it. Try to practice for half an hour or an hour daily so you can come up with your poker strategies and remember all those professional poker terms. Whether you play by yourself or with a few friends, what is important is to pay attention to the game.

3. Never Play for Money

Money should never be your motivation in playing poker or any other game. Play for fun or for passion. If you want to get rich by playing poker, just study medicine or law. Poker is a fast way to get rich and a faster way to get bankrupt.

Annette Obrestad – Annette is a Norwegian who began playing poker at a young age. By the age of 22 she had won over $3 million dollars and had won one ‘World of Poker’ bracelet. In 2004 she broke all record by becoming the first female to win $2 million in one game. She ranks at number 110 on the all time poker winning money list and is the number one player in her home country.

Jennifer Harman – Whilst at college in the US, Jennifer made over $2 million playing poker. Since then she has won two ‘World of Poker’ bracelets and ranks 174th on the all time poker winning money list. Much of the money Jennifer wins from playing the game has been donated to charity.

Kathleen Leibert – probably the most famous female poker player of all time, Kathleen won her first $1 million in 2002. She won her first ‘World of Poker’ bracelet in 2004 and since then has gone on to win more than $5.5 million in prize money. Kathleen has won more prize money playing open field poker tournaments than any other woman and ranks at number 41 on the all time poker winning money list.